


What We Leave Behind

by Lorraine



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Family Angst, Gen, Occupation of Bajor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-17 03:07:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1371628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lorraine/pseuds/Lorraine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mardah explains her decision to work for Quark on Terok Nor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What We Leave Behind

"I cannot believe that after everything we've been through, after everything the Cardassians have taken from us, you're willingly going to Terok Nor as a comfort woman for the people who destroyed Bajor." Sarjeno's voice is quiet, flat, emotionless. It's the same voice she used to tell Mardah that their parents were dead.

"I'm not a comfort woman," Mardah tries, but Sarjeno talks over her as if she hasn't even spoken. 

"You watched Raina dragged from her tent by those bastards, her children still clinging to her skirts. You watched her slit her throat on a rock rather than be forced to fuck a Cardassian. Even one. And now you're choosing that life deliberately. I don't even know what to say to you, Mardah." Sarjeno refuses to look Mardah, her eyes resolutely fixed on the Teachings of Vedik Melor she holds open in her lap.

Mardah says, "You seem to be doing just fine for all that."

Sarjeno turns the page, her lips moving in prayer.

"I have no intentions of sleeping with Cardassians, sister. I've been hired as a dabo girl at Quark's bar. I'll spin a dabo wheel, carry drinks to patrons, and smile at the customers. That's all." Mardah crosses the room and closes the Teachings with a muffled clap. "Quark has access to educational files--biology, comparative literature, chemistry, and he's giving me access as part of my contract. The Occupation is almost over, Sarjeno." Mardah kneels down, forces her sister to look her in the face. "Soon the treaty will be ratified, and Bajor will be ours again. I want to be part of that new Bajor. A useful part."

Sarjeno turns away, her chin tucked against her shoulder, tears spilling down her scarred cheeks.

"I'll write," Mardah says. "Give Koran my love." Then Mardah walks out of the village she's lived in for the past sixteen years and all the way to the transportion point in Rakantha Province. When the shuttle comes, its running lights temporarily blind her, and instead of Bajor, all Mardah sees from her window on the short flight to Terok Nor is the red and green afterimage of Saliur's fields, Weoct's shanty, the dome of the temple that faces the embarkation point.


End file.
